I am reposting my reply to an anonymous request made on this board on 8/28/2000 for information on what happened at the Special assessment meeting.
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The short version of it is that we, the HOA and the entire community, have made some very poor financial decisions throughout our 15+ year existence.
From year one of Town and Country HOA, in addition to the yearly operating costs, we should have been saving to a special reserve fund 1/15th of the total cost of new roofs for the entire 501 unit community. This is assuming roofs that are rated to be replaced every 15 years as I believe ours are. Similarly we should have been saving for the eventual repair/replacement of the siding and elaborate trim on all the units.
Unfortunately, our HOA and community decided to be miserly and only collected enough money in monthly dues to just pay our operating costs. Now the bill has come due and the HOA (by this I again mean the entire community and not just the board) is obligated, and I stress obligated, to maintain the exterior functionality (non-leaky roofs) and appearance (painting)of our townhomes.
Several options were discussed as possible remedies to this situation, the dollar amounts I use were my impressions and could be inaccurate:
1. Separate coupon book of $50/month for 36 months
2. One time assessment of $1800 that must be paid by a certain date
3. Some combination of the above with coupon books that can be paid off early if desired
It is my opinion that whether or not we have a special assessment is not an issue, we will have one. The only issues to be discussed and decided are:
1. How much will the assessment be?
2. What are the options of the homeowner for paying it?
3. What will it pay for (How much repair/replacement will we do?)
4. How quickly will we proceed and get this behind us?
Will Meyers
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The short version of it is that we, the HOA and the entire community, have made some very poor financial decisions throughout our 15+ year existence.
From year one of Town and Country HOA, in addition to the yearly operating costs, we should have been saving to a special reserve fund 1/15th of the total cost of new roofs for the entire 501 unit community. This is assuming roofs that are rated to be replaced every 15 years as I believe ours are. Similarly we should have been saving for the eventual repair/replacement of the siding and elaborate trim on all the units.
Unfortunately, our HOA and community decided to be miserly and only collected enough money in monthly dues to just pay our operating costs. Now the bill has come due and the HOA (by this I again mean the entire community and not just the board) is obligated, and I stress obligated, to maintain the exterior functionality (non-leaky roofs) and appearance (painting)of our townhomes.
Several options were discussed as possible remedies to this situation, the dollar amounts I use were my impressions and could be inaccurate:
1. Separate coupon book of $50/month for 36 months
2. One time assessment of $1800 that must be paid by a certain date
3. Some combination of the above with coupon books that can be paid off early if desired
It is my opinion that whether or not we have a special assessment is not an issue, we will have one. The only issues to be discussed and decided are:
1. How much will the assessment be?
2. What are the options of the homeowner for paying it?
3. What will it pay for (How much repair/replacement will we do?)
4. How quickly will we proceed and get this behind us?
Will Meyers
